HomeMy WebLinkAboutAB 309 (Lee) City of SLO OPPOSITION Letter
August 17, 2023
The Honorable John Laird
Member, California State Senate
1021 O St., Room 8720
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: AB 309 (Lee) Social Housing Program
(as amended 7/13/2023)
Notice of Oppose Unless Amended
Dear Senator Laird,
The City of San Luis Obispo writes to express our opposition to AB 309 (Lee), unless it is amended to
address our concerns. AB 309 would create the Social Housing Program within the Department of
General Services (DGS) to facilitate the construction of government-owned housing on leased state
property or excess state-owned property. Cities would have no ability to regulate zoning or
development standards, including floor area ratios, height limitations, or density requirements.
The City of San Luis Obispo strongly supports the intent of AB 309, which is to produce more housing as
housing affordability and homelessness are among the most critical issues facing California cities. The
City of San Luis Obispo is actively pro-housing and intimately understands the affordable housing and
homelessness crisis as it plays out in our community every day. The City consistently prioritizes
increased housing production, and City Council has selected housing as a Major City Goal since 2015. As
a result, the City of San Luis Obispo’s 2022 General Plan Annual Report shows that the City has made
51.8% progress in meeting its RHNA numbers for the City’s 6th Cycle Housing Element.
Affordably priced homes are out of reach for many people and housing is not being built fast enough to
meet the current or projected needs of people living in the state. Cities lay the essential groundwork for
housing production by planning and zoning new projects in their communities based on extensive public
input and engagement, as well as state housing laws. Importantly, cities are currently updating housing
plans to identify sites for more than 2.5 million additional housing units.
AB 309 would disregard this state-mandated planning process and specifically empower DGS to make
land use and zoning decisions on state excess property without regard to the needs of the community,
opportunities for environmental review, or public input. Circumvention of public engagement processes
adversely affects the livability and sustainability of new housing for both existing and anticipated
residents of our communities. If DGS can approve housing, why should cities go through the multiyear
planning process to identify sites suitable for new housing units if the state can ignore those plans and
build housing on sites never considered for new housing?
While AB 309 currently limits DGS authority to three housing projects on declared excess state property
suitable for housing, the measure broadly establishes the Social Housing Program within DGS and could
be easily expanded to include all state-owned lands.
Oppose – SB 309 (Lee) Social Housing Program
August 17, 2023
Page 2
Bypassing California’s longstanding housing planning laws and local rules is not a way out of the housing
crisis. That’s why Cal Cities continues to call on the Governor and lawmakers to annually invest $3 billion
to help cities prevent and reduce homelessness and spur affordable housing development. Targeted,
ongoing funding is the only way cities can find community-based solutions that produce housing at all
income levels. What is really needed is a sustainable state investment that matches the scale of this
long-term crisis and vests trust and capacity in the local officials best situated to advance creative local
solutions that are accountable to their local communities.
For these reasons, the City of San Luis Obispo respectfully opposes AB 309 unless it is amended to
address our concerns.
Sincerely,
Erica A. Stewart
Mayor
San Luis Obispo
Cc: Dave Mullinax, League of California Cities, dmullinax@cacities.org
League of California Cities (via email: cityletters@calcities.org)